Can you tell the difference between a European Starling and a Brown Headed Cowbird? For that matter, what is a White Breasted Nuthatch or a Common Grackle? If you do not know the answers to these questions, please check with the students in room 12 or the Garden Club at Reeds Road Elementary School.
Cornell University’s Project Feeder Watch is underway once again at Reeds Road School. Project Feeder Watch is a winter long survey of birds that visit bird feeders in North America. The collected data is used to help scientists track the broad-scale movements of winter bird populations and long term trends in bird distribution and abundance.
Birds are identified and counted twice a week. Conditions such as time of day, temperature, and precipitation are also recorded. This information is entered via the Internet and is published in scientific journals and shared by ornithologists and bird lovers nation wide.
So far this winter the bird sightings at Reeds Road School are following the typical sighting trends in this area of North America. The Dark-eyed Juncos are the most numerous birds on a daily basis, followed by the Field Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Tufted Titmouse, and Chickadee.
Check out the Project Feeder Watch web-site at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/ for more interesting bird facts, pictures, and a bird identification quiz for both novices and experts alike.
